Discourse 1 on the day of Holy Easter, at Vespers

By reading the Holy Gospel, which we have heard this hour, the Holy Church now invites us to celebrate the life-giving resurrection of Christ, together with the Apostolic Council. In the deep morning of this day we began the celebration together with the Myrrh-Bearers. Then we shared the joy of two disciples of Christ who knew the Risen One - in the breaking of bread. Now we can be partakers of the joy and triumphant face of the apostle. As those who rejoice multiply, joy increases. In the gathering of Christ's friends, the very object of joy is revealed more clearly and fully. Let us mentally enter into the sacred church where the saints are now gathered. Apostles, let's see what happened there. A few hours earlier we would have found only people weeping and sobbing there (Mark 16:10). After fear scattered the disciples of Christ from the garden of Gethsemane and they left their Teacher and Lord, they were left with peace and joy, which only they could have in Him. He was dragged from one trial to another; after one insult they were subjected to another, even more shameful one; from one torment they moved to another, even more severe. Shame and torment finally reached their highest degree and merged into one thing - death on the cross. All this tormented the souls of the disciples of the Divine Sufferer, who had the most sincere love for Him. Add to this that all these events took place contrary to their expectations, no matter how much the Lord warned them about the suffering and death awaiting Him in Jerusalem. Less than a week before the suffering, on the eve of entering Jerusalem, when the Lord said: “...we are going up into Jerusalem, and all that is written by the Prophets about the Son of man will come to an end: for they will betray Him with their tongues, and will mock Him, and reproach Him, and spit on Him, and will soon kill Him, the disciples, as the Evangelist notes, are of no account of these things, and this word is hidden from them, and they do not understand those who spoke.” (Luke 18:31–34). On the contrary, the closer they approached Jerusalem, the stronger the general expectation became: the glorious kingdom of the Messiah will soon open (Luke 19:11)! And suddenly these sweet hopes collapsed and with their fall overshadowed the comforting and faithful expectation that the Lord inspired in the disciples - the expectation of His resurrection. The future did not bode well for them; they remained like sheep, lacking a Shepherd. It is clear into what confusion and sadness the death of their Divine Teacher plunged the disciples! The beginning of a joyful change dawned on the Apostles with the first news of the resurrection of the Lord. But the thick darkness that enveloped their minds and hearts did not allow the first rays of joyful light to penetrate to them. They return from the tomb of Jesus to the Myrrh-Bearing Apostles and proclaim what they heard from the Angel, that the Lord has arisen: “And He appeared before them as if their words were lies, and they did not believe them” (Luke 24:11). Mary Magdalene comes, who herself was honored to see the risen Lord: “and they heard that he was alive, and was seen quickly from her, without losing faith” (Mark 16:11) - and not before they began to believe that the Lord had really risen, as after His appearance to the Apostle Peter. But even then this faith was not yet firm in everyone and did not exert all its life-giving power in them, until the risen Lord Himself appeared in the Apostolic Council. So, being late, on that day, one of the Sabbaths, and with the doors closed, where His disciples were gathered in fear for the sake of the Jews, Jesus came (John 20:19). This was already in the late evening of the day of Christ’s resurrection, as is revealed from considerations with the narrative of the appearance of the risen Lord to two disciples at Emmaus. While the Apostles were talking with these travelers about the joyful event, Jesus came and a hundred in the midst of them (John 20:19), without preceding anyone with any sign about His appearance. He who kept intact the signs on His tomb, in the resurrection, had no need even now for the closed doors to be opened to Him. The first word of the One who appeared to the disciples was: “Peace be with you” (John 20:19). To souls who did not enjoy the world, how timely, how beneficial this outpouring of peace was in the word, always effective. The world is shaken by bewilderment, the world is troubled by sadness, the world is troubled by Jewish fear, the world is shedding tears of repentance (Luke 22:62). How valuable healing was poured out by this word on many different wounds. When the disciples now saw the risen Lord before them, they heard His voice: it seemed that there was no longer any room for doubt that He had risen from the grave. However, some wondered: isn’t this a spirit (Luke 24:37)? Such doubt will seem surprising after so many assurances and after the Apostles themselves repeatedly witnessed how the Lord resurrected others. And the Lord did not leave those who doubted without reproof: “... and reproach their unbelief and hardness of heart” (Mark 16:14). However, before anyone decides to condemn those who doubt, he must take into account that although the Apostles saw those resurrected by the Lord Jesus Christ, their resurrection was only a return to earthly life, in their former earthly shell. It was different with the glorified flesh of the Lord. The apostles saw before them a spiritual body, with which the Lord ascended to heaven. Another reason for doubt, as the Apostles themselves admitted, was an insufficient understanding of those prophecies that related to the Redeemer of the world. It is not according to the Scripture that it is fitting for Him to rise from the dead (John 20:9). To destroy any doubts about the reality of his resurrection, the Lord offered the disciples the most convincing evidence. He pointed to the wounds that remained on His forehead from being pierced by nails and a spear: showing them His hand and nose and His side (Luke 24:40). He even allowed Him to be touched: “Handle Me and see that a spirit does not have flesh and bones, but you see that I have it” (Luke 24:39). Not only that: he deigned to demand something edible for himself, and when they gave him honeycombs from the bees and some baked fish, he took the poison before them (Luke 24:43). So, there was no reason for the disciples to doubt that they saw before them the crucified Lord with His most pure flesh. Now it was necessary to eliminate another cause of bewilderment. Do not know the Scriptures (John 20:9). This does not mean that the Lord never pointed out to His disciples the words of the Prophets, who predicted both His suffering and His resurrection. Repeatedly, for example, He pointed to the sign of the Prophet Jonah. But this means that the disciples still had obstacles to the correct understanding of Scripture; the veil had not yet been completely removed from their eyes, which, according to the Apostle Paul, remains on the heart of the Jew to this day when reading the Old Testament and which is destroyed only by Christ (2 Cor. 3:14-15). In other words: these were partly prejudiced opinions, partly half-understood truths, from which the Jews then formed their concepts about the Messiah and His kingdom. This, by the way, included the thought “for Christ abides forever,” which the Jews could not agree with the Savior’s predictions about their death (John 12:34). This included their dreams about the earthly kingdom of the Messiah. The Lord, although he repeatedly refuted such misconceptions in conversations, especially to his disciples, could not tell them everything at that time. “The Imam has many more words for you,” He said to His disciples just before His suffering, “but you cannot bear it now” (John 16:12). Now the time had come for the disciples to receive additional instruction. The Resurrection of Christ showed that death does not prevent Him from remaining forever. Having resurrected and transformed in Himself everything taken from the earth, He could not remain on earth for long, therefore, His kingdom could no longer be earthly. So, now it was timely to remove from the eyes of the disciples the veil that prevented them from seeing the meaning of the ancient prophecies. Then he opened their minds to the understanding of the Scripture, and said to them: For as it is written, and so it is fitting for Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day (Luke 24:45–46). And their God-enlightened gaze now saw how a numerous host of heralds of God’s will for several centuries predicted exactly what happened before their eyes, down to the smallest detail. The plan of God's economy for the salvation of the human race was revealed to them, developing in one bright picture from the first days of the world in the writings of the ancient Prophets. And in this regard, the suffering of the Son of God for the sins of the human race and the glorification of the Son of Man in the resurrection stand as a luminous focus, from which light spills over the entire previous state of the world and onto its entire future. Now it has also been revealed that the death of the God-man was not destroyed, but the hope for the deliverance of Israel was still confirmed (Luke 24:21), only not physical, but spiritual, and not just Israel, but also all who believe in the name of the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world. This is what is written, and this is how it was fitting for Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead on the third day, and to preach in His name repentance and remission of sins to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem (Luke 24:46–47). Judge now what was the joy of the disciples, this intense joy, when at the same time they saw before them their Lord, from Whom they were already thinking of being separated forever, and saw His Divine image, clearly written in the law and the Prophets! The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord (John 20:20). But the Apostles were given this joy not for them alone. They were to bring this light and this joy to all nations. And so the Lord, leaving the meeting of the Apostles, because they could not constantly endure the glory of the risen Lord, and in order to gradually prepare the disciples for His departure to heaven and for their action no longer in His visible presence, leaving His disciples, spoke to them a second time: “Peace be with you” (John 20:21), and at the same time proclaimed: “As the Father has sent Me, and I am sending you” ( John 20:21). The Son of God completed His mission on earth: from here begins the ministry of His messengers, the Apostles. Even in His high priestly prayer to God the Father, He said: “I have glorified Thee on earth, having done the work that Thou hast given Me, that I may do it: I have manifested Thy name in my forehead, which Thou hast given Me... I have given to them...” (John 17:4-8); “As you sent Me into the world; and I sent them into the world: and for them I sanctify Myself” (John 17:18–19). The word of the prayer of the Only Begotten was accepted by the Father, and by the counsel of the will of the Father and the Son the fishermen of Galilee are now appointed as messengers of God, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. And he said this to them, and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). The verb to them: receive the Holy Spirit. While still coming to free passion, the Lord spoke to His disciples: “If you do not go, I will go; if I do not go, the Comforter will not come to you; if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). Now, when the Lord Himself could no longer visibly guide them and when their spirit was elevated in spiritual understanding, by the power of the resurrection of Christ, now He first fulfills His promise. This was not yet the full outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that they were to receive on the day of Pentecost. But just as the Lord gradually weaned His disciples from His visible presence, so gradually He introduced them into invisible communion with Him Who was to abide with them forever (John 14:16). Verb name: receive the Holy Spirit. Those who forgive their sins will be forgiven, and those who hold them will hold on (John 20:22–23). “Who can forgive sins except God alone?” (Mark 2:7), the Jews asked when they first heard from the Lord absolution for the paralytic. They rightly reasoned that only God can forgive sins with his power. But they were wrong in thinking to see only a human being in the Forgiver. The Lord Jesus Christ forgave sins because He is the true God. Now, elevating the Apostles to His ministry, He clothed them with this divine right, teaching them with a mysterious breath and the grace-filled power of the Holy Spirit required for this. This right was granted to them because their purpose was to preach the remission of sins in the name of Jesus Christ. Here, listeners, are the great and ever-memorable events that took place this evening in Jerusalem. With the appearance of Jesus Christ, the Apostles were decisively convinced that the Lord had risen. In the light of His resurrection, they clearly understood that he suffered, died and rose again according to the will of the Father, explained in the ancient writings. From the risen Lord they received confirmation in the apostolic ministry, for which they had hitherto been preparing, and accordingly received from the Holy Spirit the first gifts necessary for the newly formed Church. What were they convinced of, what did they find out, what did they receive St. The apostles of Jesus Christ - all this, through the Holy Church, is our heritage. Let us give thanks and glorify the eternal High Priest of our confession, who has enriched us with these gifts, us who are the last, just as we were the first! Amen.